A print shop typically includes a number of high-volume printers capable of printing incoming print jobs quickly and at high quality. The print shop may be managed by a print server that is operable to receive print jobs from a plurality of clients and schedule the print jobs with one of the printers under its control. Oftentimes, an operator is present to oversee print server software, manually fix printer issues, and reload the printers with media.
After receiving a print job, the print server manages workflow and schedules the print job based on user-selected options and the print capabilities of an available printer. Sometimes, a printer has its own print capabilities and/or print protocols that differ from other printers in the print shop architecture. As such, it is possible for two printers to have the same type of media loaded but identify and report the media differently to the print server. For example, a first printer may report media loaded therein as “Bright Yellow” while a second printer reports the same media as “Regular Yellow.”
In current print server architecture, the media that is reported from the printers must directly match the media that is requested in a print job. When a match does not exist, the print server is unable to consider a printer that has reported non-matching media for scheduling the print job. As a result, the scheduling efficiency of the print server is detrimentally impacted because scheduling options are limited to only those printers with a direct media match even when a different printer or media type may have been suitable for that print job. Moreover, without a direct media match, the print job may be cancelled or suspended until the user or print operator makes a manual change to the print job or media loaded in a printer.